Wandering Soul
by Shadowzamy
Summary: Yoh disappeared when he was a baby and ended up being raised by an old half witch half gypsy woman who raised him as a gypsy and a shaman... HaoxYoh...
1. Jane

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word and **Italic Bold** means emphasis in a thought._'

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

**Bold stands for a dangerous tone.**

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

**There may be OOC, just warning.  
**

**On with the story:)**

XxX

Yoh was taking a nap in a tree about five feet from the lake, the branch he was on was about 76 feet high up. Yoh was dreaming happily about clouds when he was rudely awakened by an all to familiar voice.

"**YOH!** Get your ass down here!" Jane yelled, looking like a blood vein was about to burst.

Yoh opened one eye halfway and looked down at her with an uninterested expression. "No." Yoh sat up in the tree and smirked down at her.

"Yoh... this is the second time this week that you have skipped out on your chores _and_ training and I'm not happy about it, so get down here before I find a valid reason that I can tell the police when I kill you." Jane said darkly as she glared up at Yoh.

Yoh seemed to ponder the the thought before he repeated his first answer. "No."

"And to think that I was thrilled when you learned talk." Jane growled, she gave Yoh one more glare before letting out a sigh.

"Yoh, I know that training isn't the easiest thing for you, but it's necessary for your future survival." Jane explained calmly as she walked over to the tree. "If you aren't strong enough you wont be able to survive as a shaman. Please come down so that we can continue your training now." Jane pleaded.

Yoh stared down at Jane hesitantly as he stood up an walked over to the edge of the branch, Yoh paused once he reached the edge and then turned back to look at Jane.

"If you finish your training for the day, I'll tell you the story about how I met you again." Jane smiled as she walked over to the edge of the lake. Whenever Jane said that she would tell Yoh the story about how she met him, usually she would end up getting her way. Yoh had loved that story and she had told it to him sense he was little and this time was no different.

Yoh smirked as he jumped off the tree branch an into the lake, he made a large splash as he hit the water and within a few minutes he swam back to the edge of the lake. Once he got out of the water he walked over to Jane, completely drenched. Jane smiled as she led Yoh back over to the training ground to continue her special, you're-going-to-wish-you-were-in-hell-rather-than-here, training.

xXx

After the training was over it was really late out and Yoh was completely worn out, he had received many new scratches, burns and bruises from today's training session. The minute the got back to their log cabin house, Yoh ran up to his room and flopped down on his bed. Jane followed him upstairs and tucked him in bed.

"Okaasan, I'm fourteen, I can do that myself now." Yoh wined as Jane pulled up the covers.

"Yes I know, but I like to do it. Things like this make me feel young again, and don't forget were in America at the moment dear, so please call me mom." Jane chuckled as she pulled the blanket over Yoh's chest, Yoh merely pouted as Jane continued to tuck him in.

"Mom, you promised that you would tell me the story if I completed today's training." Yoh said as Jane was about to leave.

"Oh right, I almost forgot about that." Jane said as she walked back over to Yoh and sat at the edge of the bed. "Fourteen years ago, back when I was a seventy three year old gypsy, I was wandering through a forest in Itumo, Japan..." Jane began.

XxX

Jane walked alone through the forest, occasionally stopping to help the wandering spirits. As Jane was walking she heard screaming and crying so she ran over to see what it was. Jane was horrified at what she saw, six large demons were getting ready to eat a small human infant. Jane ran over to the demons and began to fight them while trying to prevent them from eating the baby, after Jane killed one of them the others became enraged and fought with the sole intent to kill her. Jane dodged the first attack and cast a sealing spell on the strongest of the demons, imprisoning it within a small stone. The remaining demons became somewhat timid after that but they still attacked her none the less. At the moment Jane was glad that she was half gypsy and half witch as she cast a destruction spell on the remaining demons, destroying them completely. After the demons were gone Jane turned her attention to the infant, she could sense spiritual energy emanating from the child as she picked it up. '_The demons must have attacked him because of his strong aura. It's sad though, he looks as though he was just born not that long ago..._' Jane's thoughts trailed off as the baby began to cry. Jane carefully rocked the baby to sleep. '_Hm, I had better find his parents soon, they must be worried._' Jane thought as she began to search for the baby's parents. Jane searched for weeks for the child's parents but still no luck, she checked the police station but no one had reported a baby missing or dead from mysterious causes. Eventually Jane gave up hope of ever finding the child's parents and so she adopted him as though he was her own child. Jane had now been traveling for several weeks with the boy and she still had yet to name him. '_He needs a name... but what should I name him?_' Jane examined the baby very carefully looking for something that might help her decide on a name. '_Hm, I'm going to have to give special attention to him because of his aura and I'm going to have to train him in the ways of a shaman so that he will be able to fend off the demons on his own when he gets older... He also looks like he will grow to be a very good willed person and that will make cultivating positive energy easy for him... Cultivating? Yes, that sounds about right._' Jane looked down at the sleeping infant and smiled as she gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Your name, will be Yoh."

xXx

After Jane had finished telling the story she looked down at Yoh who was now fast asleep, Jane kissed Yoh's forehead and then walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Jane sighed as she got packed, because of her nature they rarely stayed somewhere for any more than a week and because of that they had traveled around the world more times than she could count. Because of their constant traveling to different parts of the globe Yoh had learned many languages and he was home schooled because they never stayed in one place long enough to enroll him in an actual school. Jane knew that Yoh was beginning to figure out that her age was beginning to slow her down. Jane knew that Yoh had figured it out by the fact that Yoh hadn't been slacking off as much, he had only slacked off twice this week when usually he would be slacking off at least nine times per week. After Jane got down stairs and went outside she went into a complete coughing fit for seven minutes, when it was finally over she looked down at her hands and the blood that she had coughed up. The thing that Yoh didn't know however, was the fact that Jane was dying from an incurable illness. Jane knew this and she was trying to go back to the place that she had been born and raised in to use as her final resting place, they would be there in about two weeks. Jane only hoped that she could live until then.

XxX

**I felt the strangest need to write this story, I only hope that it will turn out well.**

**Please review:)  
**


	2. The Shaman Tournament?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word and **Italic Bold** means emphasis inside a thought._'

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

**Bold stands for a dangerous tone.**

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

xXx

They had been traveling for a week and a half and Yoh had noticed that Jane had been slowing down a lot more than usual as they were traveling. Occasionally Nox, Yoh's guardian spirit sense he was five, would have to walk next to Jane to help her keep her balance and this was troubling for both of them. Yoh would often ask Jane if she needed a break or if they should slow down but she always replied that she was fine and that she just wanted to hurry up and get there. Where 'there' was Yoh had no idea, usually the three of them would wander around where ever the wind spirits took them, but the fact that Jane actually had somewhere in mind to go and she wasn't telling him was very disturbing. They walked for a few more days and by this time Yoh was carefully carrying Jane on his back, he knew that something was **very** wrong with the sound of her ragged breathing. In a few more hours they came to a village deep within the mountains, Jane staggered as he set her down so that she could go where she wanted to. The people in the village welcomed her and said that her ceremony would be prepared soon, Jane smiled at that before she continued walking to an old and slightly torn tent. They went inside alone and everyone else in the village went to go prepare the special ceremony. Jane laid down on the goatskin cot and she turned her attention to Yoh who sat down on the floor next to him.

"Yoh... the reason why... we came here... is because this village... is my home." Jane said slowly.

Yoh merely nodded, trying not to cry for what he knew was coming next.

"The reason why... I came back... is because... my time, is finally here... and I wanted to leave this life... in the same place... that I entered it." Jane coughed.

"The time that... I spent raising you... was the happiest time... of my life. Now that my own time... is at a close... I want you... to promise me something." Jane said while struggling to stay awake.

Yoh's tears were beginning to flow as he nodded slowly.

"I want you to promise me... ...that you'll live your life the way you want... ...every life has it's good and it's evil... ...but what's important is that... …you lived your life with something... ...that you can remember at the end... ...that can make you say... ...I'm glad that I... …was able to live in this life... ...do you promise me?" Jane asked, her breathing was very weak now.

"Y-Yes... I-I promise." Yoh replied, trying desperately to control his tears.

"Good... Nox... there is something... that I want you... to promise me...too." Jane said as she was beginning to lose consciousness.

"What is it?" Nox asked sadly.

"Promise me... that you... will look... after Yoh... and that... you will... always keep... his best interests... at heart?" Jane asked, now barely alive.

Nox gave weak laugh. "Of course... you never even had to ask."

Jane gave a very weak chuckle as well. "No... I suppose not... but I'm glad... that in my life time... I was able to... meet you two... it made... the time I had... worth living..." After Jane said those words, she passed away... the smile never left her face. Yoh grabbed Nox and cried deeply into his fur, Nox merely laid down so that Yoh could hide his face in his pelt a little better. Nox had the feeling that Yoh wouldn't want anyone to see him right now, so he let Yoh cry out his feelings as though time had stopped completely. Two hours had passed before Yoh eventually stopped crying and got off of Nox. Later two of them went to Jane's funeral where they said their last good byes before they left the village.

XxX

Yoh and Nox had continued traveling around the globe, revisiting all the places they had gone to with Jane. While they were traveling Yoh would work odd jobs from time to save up enough money to continue their travels. Time flew by quickly for them both and before they knew it, two whole years had passed. Yoh was now sixteen and he had learned pretty quickly how to stay alive on his own with Nox as the only friend he ever had. They were traveling through Japan when they saw a strange man sitting on the side of the street, selling trinkets and charms. Nox took a liking to a bear claw necklace so Yoh got it for him as a present, they thanked the strange man and continued walking. Nox now wore the bear claw necklace that Yoh had gotten for him and Yoh still wore the fox fang necklace that Nox had to given him for his sixteenth birthday. After night had fallen they both sat alone on a bench at the park, waiting. Soon the strange man from the stands walked up to them.

"I knew that you were following us." Yoh said with a care free laugh.

"What do you want?" Nox asked in a low growl.

The strange man seemed surprised at the two's reaction but he quickly ignored it. "My name is Silva of the Patch tribe and I am one of the ten officials in the shaman tournament. I have come to see if you are worthy to enter the shaman tournament. If you manage to land one hit on me within ten minutes then you pass... the time starts, now."

Yoh created his over soul and attacked Silva, Yoh and Nox fought pretty hard while fending off Silva's own attacks, when the were down to one minute they made there final attack and they managed to land one hit on Silva a mere seconds before the time ran out. Silva handed Yoh his oracle bell and then he flew off, Yoh stared at the device for a moment before staring at Nox.

"Well, It looks like we're in the shaman tournament now, but I never got to ask him what the shaman tournament is..." Yoh trailed off as he started pushing random buttons on the oracle bell. Eventually he found the instruction manual, it took him five hours to read the boring book before he finally understood it.

"Until the oracle bell says otherwise, I think we should stay in Tokyo for now." Nox stated calmly as he watched a few bats fly by.

"Then what should we do now?" Yoh asked while staring up at the stars.

"... Fly around the city until our first match comes?" Nox suggested as he looked over to Yoh.

"Fine with me." Yoh replied as he stood up and got on Nox's back. After Yoh was safely on, Nox took to the sky. They ended up flying around Tokyo for three days when the oracle bell finally rang, Yoh looked down at the name on the screen: **Usui Horohoro**.

"Horohoro? Weird name, come on Nox, lets go. Our first fight has just been announced, we need to get to the old abandoned hospital, for our first match." Yoh said as Nox did a 180 in the sky and began flying towards the abandoned hospital.

XxX

"My opponents name is Yoh? What's his last name?... Oh well, I'll ask him once I finish kicking his but." Horohoro said as he sat on top of the roof of the hospital, waiting for his opponent to show up. Yoh arrived a few minutes later and stared up at Horohoro. Horohoro jumped off the roof and landed right in front of Yoh, Horohoro took a moment to take a look at the teen in front of him that must be his opponent. Yoh looked to be his same age, he was wearing a red bandana with strange yellow patterns on it, over his dark chestnut hair that went down to his upper back. Yoh had his ears pierced twice on each ear, the top earrings were simple small silver hoops, while the bottom earrings were also small silver hoops but with a small removable hoop charm with six dangling attached tubes on each earring. Yoh was wearing a white billowing shirt with a worn out dark red open vest and a pair of faded blue jeans with a red and yellow scarf around his waist, he wore two silver bracelets on each wrist and a fox fang necklace, the pair of gladiator sandals on his feet completed his appearance. Yoh's guardian spirit appeared to be a dark purple demon fox. It had black batlike wings with dark blue on the inside, and the fox it self had had three tails with red on it's paws, chest, and the tips of its three tails. Its eyes were a piercing crimson red and the top of its head as well as its back were black. It had blue on the tip of its ears and a few black stripes on its front and back legs, it also wore a black bear claw necklace around its neck. '_He kind of looks like a gypsy._' Horohoro thought as he realized by Yoh's confused expression that he had been staring.

Yoh looked at the blue haired shaman for a moment, he was wearing a white, blue and red skiing jacket and dark blue shorts. Horohoro also carried a white snowboard and a girl Kuroppokkuru that appeared to be his guardian spirit. Jane had always told him that it wasn't polite to stare so after he memorized what his opponent looked like he turned to look at Nox and he asked him telepathically what Horohoro was thinking of him. Yoh couldn't read minds, occasionally he could pick up a thought or two but Nox was the only one who's mind he could actually read. Nox on the other hand could easily read minds, he actually did it a lot and because of that Yoh had learned to be able to tell when someone was reading his mind and he could also block off his thoughts. Nox looked back up at him. '_He thinks you look like a gypsy._' Nox replied, Yoh laughed slightly at that. '_Maybe it's because I am one._' Yoh thought as they both returned there attention to Horohoro.

"I'm Horohoro and this is Kororo, are you Yoh?" Horohoro asked as he pulled out his snowboard.

"Yes I am, and this is Nox." Yoh said as he gestured towards Nox who merely nodded and they both created their own oversoul as well.

At that moment a large clock overhead signaled for the fight to start.

xXx


	3. Three Days

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word and **Italic Bold** means emphasis in a thought._'

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

**Bold stands for a dangerous tone.**

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

xXx

Horohoro attacked first by sending a shower of ice shards crashing down, Yoh dodged the attack and he quickly countered with a slash from his claws. Horohoro managed to move just in time for the attack to miss his chest but it hit Horohoro's left arm instead, it tore his jacket and gave him a deep scratch. Horohoro used his oversoul to freeze the ground and make it harder for Yoh to keep his balance. Horohoro attacked while Yoh was trying to regain his balance and he managed to get a solid hit on his face. The fight continued for ten minutes until Horohoro used his strongest attack in a last minute effort to defeat Yoh. Yoh jumped out of the way of the attack and turned around while slashing down his claws leaving a fissure in the ground next to Horohoro.

"Hey dude, why'd you miss?" Horohoro asked while blinking in surprise.

"Because your oversoul's broken and you're out of furryoku." Yoh explained while pointing towards Kororo who was laying unconscious next to the snowboard.

"Oh, I see." Horohoro replied picking up Kororo and his snowboard.

Yoh merely smiled as he began to walk away but Horhoro stopped him. "Are you going back to your parents now?" Horohoro asked curiously.

"No, I never had a father and my mother died two years ago, so its just been me and Nox ever sense." Yoh replied calmly.

"Oh... sorry to hear about that, where are you going then?" Horohoro asked cautiously.

"Nowhere really, I guess I'm going wherever I can find a place to sleep." Yoh answered with a shrug.

"Why don't you come over to Anna's house with me then? Anna's harsh, so she might give you a lot of chores to do but at least you'll have somewhere to stay." Horohoro asked hopefully.

"Um, Ok?" Yoh replied looking down at Nox hoping to get his opinion.

"Great, lets go." Horohoro said happily as he grabbed Yoh's hand and dragged him back to Anna's house. When they entered the living room they were greeted by a samurai spirit, a Chinese warrior spirit, a purple haired Chinese boy, a girl wearing strange beads, a shy pink haired girl, a blue haired girl wearing pink snow boots and a man with an large pompadour hair style, Horohoro had told Yoh all of there names and descriptions shortly before they arrived.

"Your late Boroboro, and who are they?" Ren said in annoyed tone.

"It's Horohoro!... and this is Yoh and Nox, the ones who was my opponent." Horohoro answered while pushing Yoh out of the door way and into the living room.

"Why did you bring him here?" Ryu asked curiously.

"Because he had nowhere else to go." Horohoro said simply.

"Is he a gypsy?" Anna asked cautiously.

"I was raised as one for my entire life so yes, I am." Yoh said with a carefree smile.

Anna blinked in surprise, she hadn't expected him to talk, much less to be so relaxed. "Ok then, we'll talk about your increase in chores later Horohoro, for now everyone should get to bed, it's late." Anna said as she walked back to her room. Everyone else went to their rooms as well while Horohoro showed Yoh where he could sleep. Long after everyone had fallen asleep, Yoh got up and went outside on to the roof with Nox following closely behind him. They both stared at the stars and watched the dark clouds fly by for a few hours before Nox finally broke the silence.

"How long are we going to stay this time?" Nox asked quietly.

"Shorter than most, about three days." Yoh replied as he closed his eyes.

"They're nice people and if we stay any longer than that they might get too attached, right?" Nox asked while laying his head and front paws on Yoh's chest.

"Yea and the two of us are wandering souls, we never stay in one place for very long because we're always trying to find our home, I don't want them to get too upset when we leave." Yoh said as he began to get up.

"At least we'll see them again soon in the tournament." Nox said with a smirk as they both went back inside and went to bed. Yoh and Nox knew that the samurai spirit, Amidamaru, had been listening in to their conversation and they allowed it because they thought that someone should know why, when they left. The next morning Yoh and Nox found out just how hash Anna was. Anna had the two of them running around all day doing chores and after seeing Anna train Ryu, Horohoro and Ren, Yoh and Nox were glad that they were doing chores and that she wasn't training them. Anna's training wasn't as hard as Jane's but it still looked like it would leave them both sore for weeks.

The next day Yoh's oracle bell rang, so he left to go to his fight. The fight was against someone called Faust the eighth, when they got there their opponent was already waiting. Faust seemed nice enough, he asked Yoh to go easy on him because he wasn't that used to fighting and Yoh just gave a carefree smile. The fight wouldn't start for about twenty minutes so Faust started a casual conversation, as they were talking Nox began to talk to Yoh as well but through telepathy. '_Yoh, what do you think of Faust?'_ Nox asked cautiously. '_I think he's good at heart but that his heart has been sealed off for a while._' Yoh replied while laughing at a joke that Faust just told. Nox stared up at Yoh with a serious expression. '_He's strong and he has yet to lose a fight, he enrages his opponents and get's them to use up all most of their furryoku before the actual fight even begins, so just be careful._' Nox informed while looking at the clock, only two minutes until the fight began. The patch official, Silva, was watching the them from a distance. 'I_ hope that Yoh will be alright, in all of Faust's previous matches none of his opponents had ever survived. Hm, Faust usually would have enraged his opponent by now though, what is so different about Yoh than all of his previous opponents?_' Silva thought as he looked at the clock, there was only one minute left.

"Hey Yoh, have you ever lost someone important to you?" Faust asked curiously.

"My mother, although we weren't related by blood, we were as close as a real family would be. She died from an illness two years ago." Yoh said sadly.

"I see, I understand how hard it can be to lose someone you care about." Faust said just as the clock went off, signaling the start of the fight. Both Yoh and Faust summoned there oversouls and began to fight. Nox found it surprising that Faust's way of thinking about the fight changed after Yoh had told him that he lost someone close to him. Before Faust was thinking of ways that he could anger and destroy Yoh, now Faust was thinking thinking of various ways to counter attack. Faust's way of thinking was still very annoying but not as ruthless. It was a close match but Faust ended up winning the fight in the end with Yoh being restrained by skeletons and Faust's guardian ghost Elisa, breaking his oversoul which used up the last of his furryoku. Faust helped Yoh up after the skeletons had dropped him.

"It looks like I didn't need you to hold back after all." Faust joked as he helped Yoh get to his feet.

"You could have told me that you were a skilled necromancer." Yoh pouted as he got up and wiped the dirt off his jeans.

"But one of the key's to fighting is the element of surprise. I hope to see you in the tournament again, Yoh." Faust said as he walked away.

Yoh and Nox walked back to Anna's house in mostly silence, Yoh only thought one sentence for the entire way back. ' _I told you that he was good at heart._' After they got back to the house they were scolded by Anna for neglecting their chores. About halfway through the lecture Yoh's oracle bell rang again, the name on the screen this time, was Tao Ren. Anna decided that it was useless to waste her words on them now so she simply left the room, leaving Yoh and Nox to think of a strategy they could use in their fight tomorrow. The fight was in the morning so they woke up early to get to the fighting area on time. Ren was already waiting impatiently as Yoh arrived seconds before the timer signaled the start of the fight.

XxX

**In case anyone was wondering, Ren gave up his hatred after falling in love with Horohoro, you'll find out about that more later. Anna found Amidamaru on the hill and thought that having him around would be useful so she gave him Mosuke's message and Amidamaru then followed her as one of her spirit's. Faust felt a sort of friendship with Yoh after he heard that Yoh had lost some one very important to him from the same illness that Eliza once had so he held back in hopes that they would meet again in the tournament.**


	4. His Last Name

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word and **Italic Bold** means emphasis in a thought._'

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

**Bold stands for a dangerous tone.**

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

xXx

"You're late." Ren said irritably while pulling out his oversoul and attacking Yoh.

"Sorry." Yoh replied as he dodged the attack and countered with his own oversoul's attack.

Ren began to charge with his rapid strike and Yoh used his demon slash to stop the attack before it hit him, Ren still managed to catch Yoh by surprise by slashing down on Yoh even after his attack was stopped. Yoh ignored the pain in his shoulder caused from Ren's attack as he jumped out of the way of a second rapid strike and slashed down with his own claws, the slash hit Ren's cheek and caused it to bleed a little. The fight ended up turning into a draw when both of them ran out of furryoku at the same time. Silva came down from his watching point and explained that the draw meant that they both would continue to the second round. They walked back to the house together and as they were walking Ren swore that he held back claiming that Yoh hadn't fully recovered from his fight with Faust, Yoh only laughed at that as they reached the house. When they came inside they were startled by a bright light, Yoh and Nox both blinked in surprise while trying to register what it was. Tamao saw their confused expressions and explained that she had just taken their picture, Yoh and Nox merely nodded as they went to continue their chores. After they were done Ryu announced that dinner was ready. While they were eating they talked about random subjects until Horohoro brought up Yoh as the subject.

"Hey Yoh, what's your last name?" Horohoro asked as everyone had just finished their dinner.

"I don't know." Yoh replied simply.

"What do you mean?" Ren asked curiously.

"Mom never gave me a last name because she didn't want it to be confusing in case my birth parents ever found me." Yoh answered as he looked up at everyone's expressions.

"Wait, If your mom wasn't actually related to you then how did you meet?" Anna asked, slightly confused.

Yoh smiled as he told everyone the story about how he and Jane had met, after an hour had gone by Yoh finished telling his story and then he went to wash the dishes. Everyone merely stared as he walked away. Yoh quickly finished the dishes and he was about to go upstairs to bed when Anna stopped him. Anna explained that her mentor, Kino Asakura, would be coming over tomorrow to check on her progress as an itako and that Kino would be bringing her husband, Yohmei, her daughter, Keiko, and her son-in-law, Mikihisa, with her as well. Anna explained that she had already told everyone else first and that she only wanted to warn him before tomorrow came so that way he wouldn't be the only one that was surprised. Yoh thanked her politely and then he went upstairs to his room and got packed. '_It's a shame we wont be around to meet this Kino person, but it's been three days already and the fact that Anna actually told us that they were coming means that everyone is already starting to get too attached to us._' Nox said as both he and Yoh left through the window. Yoh merely nodded as they walked along the streets, pretty soon Anna's house had faded out of sight.

XxX

Tamao woke up early to get the house ready for when the Asakura's came over, while she was cleaning the rooms she saw that Yoh was gone. As she was looking for him Amidamaru found her and explained the conversation that he had overheard three days ago, Tamao merely smiled in response as she went back to cleaning. The moment that she had finished, the door bell rang. Tamao answered it and let Kino, Yohmei, Mikihisa and Keiko inside. As they all sat at the breakfast table they asked about how well Anna had been doing and asked if anything interesting had happened recently.

"Actually, someone had been staying with us for the past three days, he left last night though." Anna answered simply.

"Really? Who was he?" Mikihisa asked curiously.

"His name was Yoh and he had a fox demon, spirit guardian named Nox, Yoh's a gypsy shaman with no last name and no real home. His mom, Jane, died two years ago, even though they weren't related by blood they were still like a real mother and son. Yoh had no real place to go so we let him stay with us for a while." Anna explained while finishing her breakfast.

"I see, what did he look like?" Yohmei asked while giving his plate to Ryu to put in the kitchen.

"Here's a picture that Tamao took of him and his guardian spirit." Anna said while handing them the picture.

The Asakura's went deathly silent after they saw the photo of Yoh and Nox.

"Anna... You said that Yoh wasn't related to Jane by blood, right? Do you know how they met?" Keiko asked slowly, her hand's were beginning to tremble while holding the picture.

"Yes..." Anna replied cautiously as she recounted the story that Yoh had told them the night before.

Upon hearing the end of the story Keiko burst into tears and continuously kept saying one sentence. " He's alive, he's alive, thank the great spirit, my baby is alive." Everyone stared in shock at the last four words she said.

"What do you mean your baby? You mean that Yoh is your child?" Anna asked in complete shock.

"That is right, sense you were raised by the Asakura's, Anna, and sense all of you are her friends and in the shaman tournament, I think that all of you should know what happened sixteen years ago." Mikihisa said as he held Keiko.

xXx

We were expecting a baby and it was supposed to be a happy time for us all, but it wasn't. We weren't having just one baby, we were having identical twins and one of those twins would be Hao Asakura, the spirit of our ancestor who dreams to wipe out all humans and create a shaman only world. Only one of the baby's would truly be ours, the other would be Hao and there was no way to tell them apart. In order to destroy Hao, we would have to kill both infants. After the first baby was born Yohmei summoned his leaf shikigami spirits and ordered them to kill the infant but in a slight moment of hesitation, the Spirit of Fire came and protected the infant who was now known to be Hao. Hao destroyed the leaf shikigami's and sent a wave of fire towards Yohmei but Mikihisa blocked the attack and ended up getting several burn scars on his face as a result. Hao said that one day he would return for his twin and that they would be together then. Shortly after he said that, he vanished. Now that Hao was gone we expected the other unnamed child's birth to go without any trouble... we were wrong. Because of the incident with Hao, a lot of furryoku was released into all the areas nearby and that attracted a lot of demon spirits to our home. After the second baby was born all of the demons attacked at once, we tried to fight them but Keiko was weakened from child birth, Mikihisa and Yohmei were still injured from the fight with Hao and Kino just couldn't fight all of them alone. The demons did a lot of damage and they also took our unnamed baby away. After we had healed enough to search for him, all traces of which way the demons went, were gone. Not only had we let Hao escape, but we also lost our other child as well and possibly the only chance we had of ever defeating Hao in the shaman tournament.

Everyone stared in silence at the Asakura's for a few minutes after the story was over.

"Then shouldn't we try and find Yoh so that he might be able to help destroy Hao?" Anna asked nervously.

"If what you said is true, about him leaving, then we wont be able to catch him now. He is in the shaman tournament though, so we should be able to meet him again soon enough." Mikihisa said calmly.

Everyone nodded in understanding as they all went outside to train.

XxX

**By the way, Anna was raised by the Asakura's after they lost Yoh and they raised her so that there might be a chance that she could one day defeat Hao.**


	5. Hao

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word and **Italic Bold** means emphasis in a thought._'

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

**Bold stands for a dangerous tone.**

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

XxX

XxX

Yoh stared at the wall of the room in complete shock, trying to absorb what he had just heard. The Asakura's were his biological family? Yoh looked down at Nox in confusion. '_I didn't think that coming back to get your bear claw necklace would lead us to find my family._' Yoh thought in disbelief. '_I didn't think I would forget the necklace in the first place... much less that I would learn the story of your birth while coming back to get it._' Nox replied telepathically. They both stared at each other in silence for a moment. '_I cant believe that they would want me to kill my own twin brother though._' Yoh thought, rather upset. '_So I take it you're __**not**__ going to go downstairs to meet them?_' Nox asked while getting ready to leave. '_No I'm not, regardless of weather or not Hao is as evil as they say I still think that everyone starts out good and I will not try to kill Hao when no one has even tried to find out how he got that way or if he can be changed._' Yoh thought as he herd everyone come inside down stairs. Nox jumped out the window and spread his wings, waiting a moment before Yoh jumped on his back. They flew out of sight of the house a few minutes before someone came into the room. '..._After hearing what they said,_ _What do you think of the Asakura's?_' Nox asked as they flew over a few clouds. '_Because they would have their own son kill his twin brother, I don't accept them as my family at all... I think I would like to meet my twin brother though._' Yoh said as the oracle rang. Yoh read the message as Nox was beginning to slow down, he was getting tired from flying so far away in such a short period of time.

"Hey Nox, do you think you could fly over to the airport?" Yoh asked in concern.

"It's not that far away, so yea I can fly there." Nox said as he quickly flew in the direction that he saw planes taking off and landing.

XxX

They arrived at the airport in only two minutes, before they arrived Yoh put on an old straw hat that Jane had given him years ago and he fixed his bandana so that his hair barely showed outside the hat. He also changed out of his white billowing shirt with his red vest and he changed into a red dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the first three buttons undone. When they entered the building they immediately walked over to where the planes were, once they got there they were greeted by a Patch official named Kalim.

"You're one of the tournament participants, right? What's your name?" Kalim asked as he opened the door to the plane.

"Yoh." Yoh replied simply as Kalim showed him to his seat.

"I see, you're early so your the first one here. By the way, the Patch never was able to find out your last name. If you don't mind could you tell me what your full name is?" Kalim asked as they reached Yoh's seat.

Yoh sat down and waited until Kalim had begun to walk away before he answered. "It's Asakura, my name is Yoh Asakura." Yoh replied as he began reading one of the Pach magazines. Kalim merely nodded as he went back to his other duties. After twenty minutes of reading the magazine Yoh heard the question again,it was a little different this time than the time the official had asked him so he listened as he continued to read.

"You're one of the tournament participants. It's protocol to ask so What's your name?" Kalim asked irritably.

"Hao Asakura." The second voice replied.

Yoh almost dropped the magazine when he herd the other shaman's response. '_Did I just hear him right?_' Yoh thought as he gave a quick glance to Nox before going back to reading. Kalim walked Hao to his seat and as they were walking Kalim thought he would break the silence for a moment.

"You're early so you're only the second one here." Kalim commented as they arrived at Hao's seat.

Hao was in the isle directly next to Yoh, Yoh looked at Hao for a moment before he went back to reading his magazine. After Kalim had left Hao noticed the teen sitting across from him, he estimated that it would be about an hour before anyone else would show up so he decided to try to read the other shaman's mind. To his surprise and amusement, the other shaman was blocking off his thoughts. Hao smirked at the thought that this shaman may be more than he seemed. Yoh was glad that he decided to wear the hat, thankfully it seemed like Hao didn't notice who he was yet and he wasn't about to change that yet.

"What's your name?" Hao asked curiously.

"It's Yoh and you're Hao, I overheard you tell the Patch official." Yoh answered as he accidentally dropped the magazine that he was reading, now he could see Hao though. They really did look alike, the only differences were the fact that Hao's hair was longer than Yoh's by about a foot, not that you could really tell with Yoh hiding his hair and face in the hat. Hao was also a bit more toned than Yoh as well and the last difference was the fact that Yoh had both his ears pierced twice while Hao only had his ears pierced once.

"It's nice to meet you. You seem kind of familiar, have we met before?" Hao asked as he got up and sat on the arm of his seat.

"Not that I know of." Yoh replied simply. Then got out of his seat and walked over to pick up the magazine that he had dropped when he tripped over a fold in the carpet, Hao reached over to try to grab him before he fell but he only ended up falling on top of Yoh.

"Nng, sorry about causing you to fall to." Yoh mumbled as he squirmed a bit once realized that at the moment, he couldn't move.

Hao sat up and quickly noticed that he was unintentionally straddling Yoh, Hao could also finally get a good look at Yoh's face since the hat and bandanna had fallen off Yoh's head when they fell and to his surprise they looked identical. Then it slowly occurred to Hao who Yoh was.

"I'm glad to see you're actually alive, Otouto." Hao said in an amused tone.

Hao smirked as he saw Yoh freeze after he said those words. "Ok, so now you know... will you get off me now?"

Hao looked down at Yoh with an unreadable expression on his face as he seemed to be pondering something. '_Hm, I seem to be feeling an attraction towards my younger twin... It may just be the fact that his soul originally came from mine that's attracting me or it might be something... more. Until I find out which it is, I think I'll keep a close eye on Yoh._' Hao thought as he returned his gaze down to Yoh who was looking up at him expectantly.

"All right." Hao replied as he got up off of Yoh and then he gave Yoh a hand to help him get up as well. Yoh cautiously accepted Hao's hand as Hao pulled him back up, they both walked quietly back to their seats. Nox walked over and grabbed the magazine that Yoh had dropped as well as his old straw hat and red and yellow bandana before sitting back down and handing the items to Yoh.

"What happened to you after the demons took you away?" Hao asked, finally breaking the silence.

Yoh took a deep breath before telling Hao the story about how he and Jane met, after the story was over he didn't know why but he also told Hao about when Jane died as well as his trip around the globe afterward. Yoh told Hao about the three days he spent at Anna's house as well as what he herd about his birth after he left. When Yoh was done he realized that he had actually told Hao his whole life's story. Surprisingly Hao was a good listener and he didn't talk at all while Yoh was telling him his story. What surprised Hao was that when Yoh had finished telling him the story of his life, he had actually started telling Yoh the story of his. Yoh was as good of a listener as Hao and he stayed completely quiet while Hao was talking. Hao told Yoh about when he had lost his mother in his first life. He talked about his demon friend Ohachiyo and how he gained the ability to read minds as well. He told Yoh about how he had kept the oversoul for to long while taking his revenge and ended up absorbing Ohachiyo's soul. Hao also talked about how he was betrayed and killed in his first life after he had tried and failed to create his shaman only world. Hao explained everything that happened in his second and current life too. He told Yoh about how he failed to win the shaman tournament 500 years ago and he also told Yoh about how he met all of his followers in his current life as well. When Hao was finally done telling Yoh about his three life's stories they stared at each other in silence for a while.

XxX


	6. Wrong Answer

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word and __**Italic Bold**__ means emphasis in a thought._'

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

**Bold stands for a dangerous tone.**

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

XxX

Twenty minutes after all of the tournament participants arrived, the Patch plane plane took off. Yoh found himself sitting next to Faust the eighth. Yoh talked with Faust for about three hours before he ended up falling asleep in the middle of their conversation. Seven hours had passed before Yoh was woken up by the sound of the intercom voice. "We are 1,280 miles away from the Patch village. For the second round all of you must make it to Pache village on your own, we will only wait three months... the second round starts now." After the intercom voice clicked off the bottom of the plane opened up, dropping all of the tournament participants 10,320 feet above the ground. Almost everyone had already created an oversoul that could fly or do something that would keep them from becoming a pancake. Unlike the other shaman though, Yoh and Nox were used to falling from extreme heights without a parachute thanks to Jane's training.

"Hey Yoh, how many feet high should we be before I spread my wings?" Nox asked while clinging to Yoh's back as tightly as he could.

"About fifteen feet." Yoh replied as he spotted Horohoro, Ren, Ryu... and Mikihisa falling not that far from where they were. Yoh gave Nox a look and Nox knew what it meant so bent his wings slightly, without opening them, so that they moved closer to the four falling shaman, staying barely out of range. '_Nox, make that five feet._' Yoh said telepathically. Nox smirked as he replied. '_You got it._' When Horohoro, Ren, Ryu and Mikihisa were about to hit the ground they all summoned their oversouls at once to stop the force of the impact of the fall, creating a large cloud of dust as well. Once Yoh and Nox were five feet from the ground, Nox gave a powerful downward thrust of his wings making them miss the ground by about an inch. They stayed in the air for a moment before they landed, once they touched the ground they walked over to Horohoro, Ren, Ryu and Mikihisa.

"Hi guys, while I was falling I lost sight of Faust, have any of you seen him?" Yoh asked as he walked over to them.

Everyone stared in surprise, they were about to go and search for Yoh when out of nowhere he appears and asks if they know where Faust is.

"I'm sorry but we haven't seen your friend." Mikihisa stated as he got up and walked over to Yoh. "By the way, you should probably know that I'm-" Mikihisa was about to say before he was cut off.

"Mikihisa, right? I went back to Anna's house to get something that Nox left behind and I over heard you talking about me." Yoh said with a carefree smile.

"Then you know that-" Mikihisa began.

"Let me ask you this first, were you really going to kill two innocent infants without waiting to try and find out which one was Hao and were you really going to kill him without even trying to reason with him? Lastly, are you still going to try to make me try and kill Hao?" Yoh asked calmly.

"Yes, it has been something that decided before you were born. I failed to destroy Hao when you both were first born, I wish I could have been a better fa-" Mikihisa answered.

'_Wrong answer, Yoh already knew the answers to the first two, but you should have answered the last one __differently._' Nox thought as he looked up at Yoh who interrupted Mikihisa once again.

"You're Mikihisa and a possible friend, but if you want me to try and kill my own brother when no one has even tried to see if he can be changed, then a friend is all you'll ever be." Yoh said coolly as he got on Nox's back.

"Yoh wait, you have to destroy Hao, it's the only way that he can be stopped." Mikihisa shouted as Yoh and Nox flew away.

'_Once again, wrong answer Mikihisa._' Nox thought as they flew out of sight. Yoh and Nox flew for three days strait, Nox was tired but right now he was trying to keep his promise to Jane and keeping Yoh's best interest's at heart. Once they were far enough away and Nox couldn't take it anymore, they landed in a nearby forest.

xXx

"Sorry for making you fly for so long Nox." Yoh said as he softly scratched the spot in between Nox's shoulders, something he found out early in life that seems to somewhat relax Nox.

"You didn't make me, I chose to fly for this long. I could have stopped once we were a mile away but I wanted to get as close as I could to the scent that I picked up." Nox replied as he stared at the tree's as though waiting for something.

"What scent?" Yoh asked curiously.

Nox merely continued to stare at the tree's while waiting.

"Yoh and Nox? This is a surprise." Hao said as he walked through the tree's and over to Yoh and Nox.

Yoh turned to Nox with an annoyed expression. "You planed this didn't you?" Yoh asked irritably.

"Yes I did. He's your brother, now go talk to him." Nox said as he pushed Yoh in Hao's direction.

Hao tried to suppress laughing as Yoh walked over, Yoh was just so cute when he was pouting... Wait, did he just think Yoh was cute? Hao watched carefully as Yoh walked over to him, the way Yoh's hair seemed blow in the wind, how his earrings dangled somewhat with every step he took and how his skin seemed to look so smooth in the sunlight. '_The attraction is definitely __**not **__**only**__ towards Yoh's soul._' Hao thought as Yoh stopped walking and looked up at him.

"Hao, do you have any friends?" Yoh asked cautiously.

"Opacho, but out of all my followers she's the only one that I can call a friend." Hao said calmly.

"Oh... what do you think of me?" Yoh asked with a are free smile.

'_I'm not going to say or do anything about this feeling yet... He'll just get scared off and that spirit of his probably wont let me anywhere near him afterward... But I can be patient, I'll wait for the right time and then I'll take him._' Hao gave an friendly smile before he answered. "I think that you're my dear Otouto." Hao replied.

Yoh smiled at Hao and then Nox spoke up.

"Hey Yoh, I know that I was the one that brought you here to talk in the first place but I think that we should start looking for Pache village now." Nox said as he walked over to Yoh.

"...Aren't you still tired?" Yoh asked questioningly.

"Not really, but I would like to have a word with Hao alone before we go." Nox replied as he stood next to Hao.

"Ok, I'll be waiting by the river then." Yoh said as he ran out of sight.

"...What did you want to say?" Hao asked as he looked down at Nox.

"I just thought that you should be aware that I can read minds too and until I know that being with you is in Yoh's best interests, you're going to have to be patient for a long time." Nox said as he ran over to where Yoh was.

"I have to admit... I wasn't expecting that." Hao said as he watched Yoh and Nox fly out of sight. '_This will be a bit more of a challenge than I originally thought but the longer that I have to wait, the more __satisfying it will be when when I finally get him._' Hao smirked as he walked back to his followers.

XxX

"Hey Nox, can you track one of the Patch officials to find out where Pache village is?" Yoh asked as they flew over a town.

"..." Nox stared at the clouds before he finally began to think. '_I didn't think of that but now that you mention it, I actually can._'

Nox quickly turned around as he caught Silva's scent and flew in the direction of Pache village.

XxX

**Nox:** Is anything going to happen between the two of them?

**Me:** I have yet to write a story where something doesn't.

**Nox:** Correction, you have yet to _post_ a story where something doesn't... then again you are still working on those so that may change...

**Me:** Exactly, now it's your turn to say it.

**Nox:** ...Please review.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word and __**Italic Bold**__ means emphasis in a thought._'

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

**Bold stands for a dangerous tone.**

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

XxX

"What's wrong Nox?" Yoh asked in concern, noticing that Nox had slowed down considerably within the past hour.

"Three things." Nox replied, Yoh gave a questioning look and Nox continued. "First, Silva's scent disappeared. Second, that itako, Anna, is close by and her samurai spirit is following us. Third, I smell destruction and it's coming from them." Nox said as he flicked his ear towards a group of shaman wearing white with a gray symbol that read: X-Laws. Yoh looked down at the X-Laws for a moment before turning his gaze towards Amidamaru who was following them while trying not to be seen.

"Can you tell why he is following us?" Yoh asked calmly.

"Not really, he's thinking something about disagreeing with Anna but he's not thinking abut why he's following us." Nox replied.

"Ok then, then lets turn around and ask him." Yoh said with a carefree smile.

"...If that's what you want." Nox said uncertainly as he suddenly folded his wings and did an instant skydive. Amidamaru had to forget about trying not to be seen for the moment so that he could follow them. As soon as Amidamaru was right behind them Nox unfolded his wings and gave a powerful downward thrust so that they just barely missed the ground. After Nox had steadied their flight and flew back up to the height thatg they were originally at before turning around so that they were now facing the surprised samurai spirit. Once Yoh regained his composure he decided to ask.

"Hi Amidamaru, why were you following us?" Yoh asked curiously.

"I was following miss Anna's orders to keep an eye on the two of you." Amidamaru replied simply.

"If you want to do that then why don't you just come with us until she calls you back?" Yoh asked with a smile while ignoring Nox's look of protest.

"Will he be ok with that?" Amidamaru asked while looking at Nox.

"...Fine, as long as you don't interfere with our lives to badly I won't mind." Nox sighed before continuing to fly, keeping a pace that Amidamaru could keep up with. Yoh figured that Nox would probably find some place to sleep for the night so he decided to lose himself in his thoughts for a while. The first thing that came to mind was his family, how could they actually want him to try to kill his own brother?

Although even if Yoh tried he probably wouldn't succeed one look at Hao with the Spirit of Fire next to him would tell anyone that Hao was stronger than him. While he was on the subject of Hao he remembered what Hao's reaction had been when he asked what Hao thought of him. '_Hao hesitated before he answered, it wasn't a 'thinking about it' type of hesitation, it was a 'thinking about how word my answer so that I'm not lying or telling the truth' type of hesitating... What do __**I**__ think of Hao anyway?... No matter how hard I try, I don't really see him as a brother but then what __**do**__ I see him as?... sigh... I'm thinking so much right now that I didn't even notice that Nox had landed, I'll think about this more later but for now I should probably get some sleep._' Yoh thought as he walked over and sat down by the nearest tree before quickly falling asleep with Nox laying beside him.

XxX

"_Anikiiis, why do you two worry about me so much? I'm not even related to you two by blood."_

"_Blood?... That doesn't matter, blood relations only get in the way, it's the spirit that counts, little brother."_

"_He's right Otouto, even though the two of us are related by blood that doesn't make you any less of our little brother. Many reincarnate after death so regardless of the blood relations you have in this life you'll have different ones in your next life."_

"_Do you understand now, little brother? If a pair of twins, for example, were to be related by blood but their spirit's were not connected then they would only be brothers in that life but not true brothers. Even if they were to be reincarnated as twins for the next thousand years they would still only be brothers temporarily but if they were brothers by spirit then they would be brothers eternally."_

"_I kind of understand now, but what if they were spiritually connected and one of them betrayed the other?"_

"_If that were the case, Otouto, then there would be only three options. The first is that one of them deceived the other into believing that they were spiritually related when they were not. The second option is that a kind of separation or rift formed between their souls. The third option is that one of their souls was scarred at the beginning and if that was the case then it would be extremely difficult for them to form the bond at all, but if they managed to work through all of the painful feelings and hidden hatred and become connected by heart and soul, then they would have a bond much stronger than what even a spiritual bond could hold."_

"_Stronger than a spiritual bond? I'd like to see that some day..."_

xXx

"Nox! Wake up!" Yoh exclaimed.

"Huh! What?" Nox asked quickly after noticing Yoh's concerned expression.

"You slept in, a lot, it's four in the afternoon." Yoh said calmly.

"Four? I cant believe I actually slept in longer than you." Nox said in disbelief.

"Amidamaru went back to Anna a while ago. We should probably continue looking for Pache village now, with all the time that we spent following Silva's scent we only have three weeks left to find the village." Yoh said as he shook off the uneasy feeling he had a moment ago.

Yoh got on Nox's back and they continued their search of Pache village.

XxX

**Me:** I'm sorry for taking so long to update, my life has gotten pretty hectic lately... I'll try to update as soon as I can but it might take a bit longer than normal for a while.

**Yoh:** What was the part completely in italics?

**Me:** That was Nox dreaming about a part of his past, it's not a major part of this story but I might put a few in some of my stories occasionally.

**Nox: **Weren't you going to ask the readers something?

**Me:** Oh right! I've been going nuts lately because I got another idea for a few stories but I cant decide on which to write so I want to ask which do you think would be better? Shipwreck, Dolphin, Cage or all of the above?

**Yoh: **Thank you for reading.

**Nox: **Please review.


	8. Team Breeze

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word and __**Italic Bold**__ means emphasis in a thought._'

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

**Bold stands for a dangerous tone.**

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

XxX (a week later)

Yoh was following Nox through a cave that he said he caught Silva's scent inside. Faust was now traveling with them, they ran into him a few days ago. Yoh thought that the idea of having a cave entrance to Pache village in the middle of a tourist center was a little strange. He figured that they probably had some sort of barrier to keep out any non shamans from finding this place. After a little more walking Yoh and Faust eventually passed out from the great spirit's presence. Nox figured that it would take the officials about 40 minutes to arrive... Today Nox was not the patient type. Nox heaved Yoh onto his back and picked up Faust with his tails. After he was fairly confident that neither of them would fall off he continued walking. Nox walked out of the cave and proceed walking through a forest. He kept careful watch of his surroundings. He was looking for somewhere that they could stay until the tournament was over, so he had to find the right place. Nox wondered if Faust would be alright living outside. He and Yoh had lived outdoors their, well, Yoh's entire life. Then again, they had already explained this to Faust and he said that he wouldn't mind. Nox eventually stopped when he found a clearing hidden within a few big thorn bushes. Despite what seemed like a wall of thorns they would still be able to see outside without anyone seeing them. There was a small entrance into the clearing which was covered by a lot of fallen leaves which most people wouldn't give a second thought to. Nox carefully crawled inside, being careful not to let the thorns cut Yoh or Faust. Once he was inside he began getting to work on making the place habitable. The first thing he did was get several fresh leaves and lay them out for beds, he put the two piles of leaves a good distance away from eachother. After the leaf beds were finished he laid Faust on one of them and Yoh on the other. Then Nox went back to work on clearing the place of poisonous insects and putting red warning leaves by the poisonous plants. Nox finished preparing when he had dug up some earth where a dead sapling used to be, circled a small area with stones and filled it with wood so that fire could burn there when needed and caught a fish for food. Soon Faust woke up but Yoh remained asleep. Faust asked if he could try growing some herbs where Nox dug up the ground and Nox didn't have any problem with it so he started planting. When Faust had finished planting the seeds he left to go look around Pache village. Nox estimated that Yoh probably wouldn't wake up for another half hour so he went outside and started looking for bones. Nox figured that since Faust was a necromancer some bones might be helpful for him. He buried several bones and skeletons near the thorn bushes just outside the clearing. Nox wen back inside the clearing just as Yoh began to wake up.

"Daijoubu?" Nox asked as Yoh slowly got up.

"Atama ga itai desu." Yoh replied simply.

"That's not surprising. You were out for two or three hours." Nox said passively.

"Oh. Where are we?" Yoh asked, noticing his surroundings.

"I guess you could call it our home. I worked on it while you two were sleeping." Nox answered with a smile.

"I like it. We should probably go check out Pache village, don't you think?" Yoh sugested.

Nox nodded and they walked over to the village. When they got there they noticed that everyone was entering a stone stadium. They followed a crowd inside to see what was going on. Once they were in they noticed Faust on the other side of the stadium and the went over to sit next to him. Faust said that he didn't know what was going on, the officials told everyone to go inside the stadium and didn't explain why. Everyone went silent when Goldva entered the stadium and waited patiently for her to speak.

"Welcome to Pache village. I know that we haven't exactly given you all much time to rest from your journey to our village but we needed to explain the rules. Shamans who do not create a team of three shaman will be disqualified. Number of matches for each team are established by the Shaman Council. Teams that lose at least one official match are disqualified, and any attempt to deceive the Shaman Council will end in disqualification. The first fight will begin anytime after noon today. Good luck." Goldva informed.

After Goldva finished speaking everyone left the stadium and began searching for a partner. Yoh, Nox and Faust all began searching for a partner as well. Although, every time they found someone they were always already in a group. Faust suggested Mikihisa, who still had no team mates, but after Yoh explained his argument with Mikihisa Faust decided against it. Yoh thought that teaming up with Hao would be alright but when he suggested it Nox was strangely rejecting of the idea. While Yoh was still asleep Nox had told Faust about Hao's _intentions_. Faust agreed with Nox about teaming up with Hao being a bad idea so Yoh dropped the subject. They checked the teams to see who was left. Hao had formed a team with Opacho and Luchist and Mikihisa formed a team with Ryu and Anna. Everyone's sweat dropped as they thought of all the ways that a fight with ether of them could go wrong. As they were thinking a young girl came out from behind them.

"Um, do you guys have a team yet?" The girl asked, she looked about twelve years old.

"No. We haven't found anyone to team up with us yet." Yoh said with a carefree smile.

"Can I join your team?" The girl asked.

"Sure. What's your name?" Faust asked curiously.

"Fleur. I tried asking a few others but they all already had teams." Fleur said with a smile.

"I'm Yoh and my spirits name is Nox. That's Faust and his spirit is Eliza." Yoh introduced.

"My spirit's name is Cheryl, she's kinda shy." Fleur said, gesturing to the great egret standing next to her.

"Now that we have a team, what should our name be?" Nox asked partially sidetracked by Cheryl's white feathers.

"Well, Faust's a doctor, Yoh appears to be a Gypsy and and I am one too. How about team breeze?" Fleur suggested.

"Sounds nice." Faust said while looking at Nox who also seemed to approve.

"Your a gypsy too?" Yoh asked, unable to hide the excitement in his voice.

"That's right. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one in the tournament." Fleur replied with a small giggle.

After they finished sorting out the team's temporary fighting strategy they showed Fleur where they were staying. Surprisingly she was thrilled to find out that they were staying outside, she said it reminded her of home. Everyone was getting ready to go to sleep when their oracle bells rang announcing a fight, luckily it wasn't theirs. The fight was between Team Tsuchi-Gumi and Team The Ren, the fight would begin in ten minutes. Everyone walked over to the stadium to go watch the fight. They were one of the last people to arrive so it was hard to find any seats. By the time they found a place to sit the announcer had just finished explaining the rules.

"Now... Let the fight between Team Tsuchi-Gumi and Team The Ren begin!"

XxX

Me: I'm sorry for taking so long to update guys. Thank you for reviewing, favoriting and following, it means a lot to me. I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner:)

Ren: Please review.


	9. Another Talk

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word and __**Italic Bold**__ means emphasis in a thought._'

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

**Bold stands for a dangerous tone.**

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

XxX

The fight began with Ren and Horohoro leaving Joco to show his strength. Joco formed his oversoul and attacked the Boz brothers catching them off guard, it looked like he knocked them out. Joco was about to address the leader of the team, Peyote, when the Boz brothers responded to his call and began fighting once more. Joco quickly dodged an attack and rebounded with a stronger attack which knocked them back. What's worse was that it seemed like every time they attacked they seemed to get stronger. Then Joco realized that Peyote was controlling his teammates with his own oversoul and tried attacking Peyote directly. Peyote merely used the Boz brothers to block the attack and then sent another wave of attacks sent directly toward Joco. Joco moved in time to avoid the worst part of the attack but he still took some damage. Joco stopped to think of a way that he could beat Peyote. After jumping out of the way of another attack Joco used a lot of his furryoku and made a... giant rock? Peyote laughed at the pathetic display and Joco smiled. Soon all of Peyote's spirits were laughing, leaving him unable to keep control of the Boz brothers and his own oversoul. Team The Ren had won the fight. Joco fainted after using so much of his furryoku and Horohoro had to carry him. The crowd cheered as the winners left the stadium. Most of the crowd left, but some fell asleep during the fight and stayed until the next morning.

xXx

"Yoh, Faust, Wake up!" Fleur exclaimed.

"Huh?" Yoh replied groggily.

"We're still in the stadium, you two fell asleep after the fight ended. I wasn't strong enough to carry ether of you and Nox was too tired to carry both of you so we slept here." Fleur explained, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Oh, sorry." Yoh said sheepishly.

Fleur sighed and followed Yoh and Faust out of the stadium. As they walked Yoh asked if they wanted to talk to team Asakura. Nox and Faust were surprised at suggestion and quickly explained to Fleur why his suggestion was so shocking. Yoh told them that he wanted to try to talk to Mikihisa, he thought that he might have been a bit harsh before and he wanted to try to actually get to know him. Faust and Fleur agreed and Nox, after much lecturing by Fleur, agreed as well. Nox and Cheryl left to go find where team Asakura was staying while everyone else went to go have breakfast. Cheryl stayed fairly quiet as they flew. They stopped to ask a few animals and spirits if they knew where Team Askaura was staying. After searching for half an hour Cheryl noticed Imari and Shigaraki walking down a forest path heading back to Mikihisa. Cheryl went back to go tell everyone while Nox flew down to go talk to Imari and Shigaraki. Shigaraki decided to continue walking to the Asakura house while Imari chose to stay and talk to the spirit that was following them.

"Why are you following us, strange spirit?" Imari asked as she turned to face Nox.

"I am Mikihisa's son's guardian spirit, my name is Nox. Yoh sent me and my friend to find Mikihisa." Nox replied.

"Why? I thought that... Yoh, didn't want to be near Mikihisa." Imari said with a confused look.

"Yoh thinks that he was too harsh when they first met. Yoh thinks highly of family and when Mikihisa continued talking about destroying Hao, his twin, Yoh got upset. The way that Mikihisa spoke made it sound like the only reason why he wanted Yoh back was so that he could help destroy Hao. Yoh believes that everything will work out and that anyone can change... even Hao. It's usually not easy to anger him, his laid-back personality tends to make him easy to get along with." Nox explained as he watched a bird fly overhead.

"Mikihisa doesn't want Yoh back _just_ to help destroy Hao, Yoh is his son and he wants to be closer to him. Mikihisa and Keiko were heartbroken when Yoh was taken, they they thought that they had lost both their sons at once. Mikihisa became depressed for weeks after Yoh disappeared and Keiko wouldn't leave her room. When Kino, Yohmei and Mikihisa were discussing on how to catch Hao, I stayed with Keiko. She cried for both Yoh and Hao, although, I've never known why..." Imari said, looking off into the distance as though remembering that day.

"A mother's love tends to be stronger. She is linked more closely to her children and many wouldn't even care if their child was evil or not, they would still love them." Nox replied.

"I see. I should probably go back to Mikihisa now. Shigaraki tends to leave things out when explaining. He probably just told Mikihasa that a strange spirit was following us and I stayed behind. Bye." Imari said before running back to the Asakura's house.

Nox headed back to Yoh and the others, surprisingly he ran into Cheryl along the way. Cheryl couldn't find them so he had to track Yoh's scent. Nox followed the scent back to their home hidden within the thorn bushes. Whey they got back Nox told them all where to find the Asakura house and began leading them there. As expected, it took a lot longer to get there on foot. They had to stop and take a break half way there. Once they got to the house Yoh knocked on the door. Tamao was the one who answered and she invited them in. She told them that Mikihisa and team The Ren were out training and they'd be back soon. Fleur started a conversation with Tamao about her divination's and Ponchi and Konchi. Anna came in the room an wanted to talk to Yoh so she took him outside. She quickly explained the rules of the house before going back inside. When Mikihisa and Ren's team got back they were surprised to see Yoh and his friends. Imari explained he conversation with Nox but they still weren't expecting to see them so soon. Fleur was still talking to Tamao and Anna was talking to Faust while Yoh and Nox seemed to be the only ones who actually noticed that they were there. Ryu instantly noticed Fleur and tried asking her out... Her slap was almost as loud as Anna's. Mikihisa stared at Yoh for a moment before he asked to talk. Yoh smiled and followed him outside, things were getting kinda hectic inside.

"I'm sorry if I was a bit harsh before." Yoh said slowly.

"No need, I shouldn't have tried to push the subject of Hao so hard... Were those two your team mates?" Mikihisa asked curiously.

"That's right. The girl is Fleur and the doctor is Faust." Yoh replied happily.

"They seem nice. Have you made any real enemies in the tournament yet?" Mikihisa asked, ignoring the fact that everyone now seemed to be listening to their conversation.

"No, do you?" Yoh asked.

"Only one, Hao is our only enemy. I'm guessing you already knew about that one though." Mikihisa answered.

"Yea." Yoh said, a little nervous.

"I will not try to force you to help us destroy Hao, I respect your choice." Mikihisa said calmly.

"Thanks, Otousan." Yoh said with a smile.

"But I'm still going to nag you about it." Mikihisa added.

"Otousaaan." Yoh whined.

They stared at eachother for a moment and then the two of them started laughing, showing that any harsh feelings from before were no longer present. Fleur and Faust knew that should probably leave soon, it was lunch time and another fight could start at any time. Before ether of them could say a word to tell Yoh that they should be leaving Nox walked over to him and snatched his necklace. Partially forgetting that there were other people there Yoh began chasing Nox while trying to get his necklace back. Yoh said goodbye to everyone and continued chasing Nox with Faust and Fleur running after them. Nox stopped running after they were a little ways away from the Asakura's house and dropped the necklace. Yoh picked it up and put it back on and then turned to Nox who looked up at him innocently. After Faust and Fleur caught up with them, they ran into a strange girl. She had silver hair and rose red eyes, her hair went down to her ankles and she looked about a year older than Fleur. The girl looked up at them and seemed to stare at Yoh for a moment, then she asked if they would join her group. They were called the X-Laws and they existed for the sole purpose of destroying the evil of this world, Hao being the source of all evil in their minds. Yoh politely refused and gave Nox a look that said "don't bite her." Nox was a little surprised that Yoh knew what he was thinking and instantly walked over to where Cheryl was sitting. Jeanne said that she thought Yoh needed more time to decide so she would ask again later. Then Jeanne left before anyone could say another word.

XxX

Me: I finished the chapter faster than I thought I would.

Horohoro: Keep going at this rate and you might actually start updating on time, lazy author.

Me: *_Glares_*

Horohoro: *Sweat drops*

Me: *Smiles sweetly* please review.

Horohoro: '_Oh_ _Great spirit..._'

Me: Hao! I know who was the one that replaced your shampoo with white hair dye.

Horohoro: '_Please help me._' *runs away while dodging killer fireballs*


	10. Want to visit?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word and _**Italic Bold**_ means emphasis in a thought._'

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

**Bold stands for a dangerous tone.**

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

XxX

Ignoring Jeanne's appearance the three of them continued back to their home where they were going to train. Fleur ended up getting really exited and dragging Yoh and Faust back without waiting for Nox and Cheryl. Nox sighed, wondering how Cheryl could put up with Fleur's impatience. Fleur really wasn't the type that seemed to enjoy waiting unless there was something in it for her. On another note, Nox wondered why Cheryl hadn't spoken at all since she had joined the group. He looked over at Cheryl and noticed that she had been staring at him. They walked in silence until they were at the entrance to the thorn bush where Yoh was. Fleur had noticed that she accidentally left Nox and Cheryl behind so she let Yoh and Faust do whatever until they came back. Nox was about too say that they should go in and train when Cheryl decided to speak up.

"Yoh, you remind me of an old riddle that a strange creature once told me." Cheryl said hesitantly.

"What is it?" Yoh asked as he slowly stood up.

"When all one's sorrows are mended and gone a brighter tomorrow will begin to dawn.

Fight your enemies eye to eye and their is no doubt that you will die,

but let your enemies see your death and a thousand years may hold your breath." Cheryl recited.

Nox flinched when Cheryl told them the riddle and both Yoh and Cheryl looked at him somewhat concerned.

"Is something wrong Nox?" Yoh asked as Cheryl went inside the house of thorns.

"...Like you, I was separated from my mother when I was very young. Back when she was alive she would often tell me stories and riddles to help me fall asleep at night. That riddle was one of the ones that she told me." Nox said before following Cheryl inside.

The moment Nox and Yoh entered their home they found Faust in his oversoul and Fleur going into hers. Fleur turned to look at Yoh and Nox as they entered. "You're late." She scowled. "It's time to start training. If we don't get stronger we'll never stand a chance at winning in the tournament." Fleur said matter-of-factly. Despite Fleur's small appearance, she was really aggressive when it came to training. Her oversoul was called Violent Harpy, a name that seemed to suit it well. Her arms had become orange wings with feathers that were soft, yet could slice through steel. The oversoul's medium were a pair of claws that she wore on her feet. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Yoh and Nox to form their oversoul. Yoh had the feeling that if he kept her waiting it wouldn't end well for any of them so he and Nox formed their oversoul and waited as Fleur seemed to be doing an evaluation of it. Yoh's oversoul was called the Knight Wolf. His ears changed into the shape of a dogs and became covered in black fur. He gained a wolf like tail with black fur on top and white underneath. He carried two black swords which were his oversoul mediums.

"You look strong enough, now let's see if you're as strong as you look." Fleur said as she suddenly attacked.

Yoh jumped out of the way as Fleur dived at him, slashing down where Yoh used to be and leaving a small crater in the spot. Yoh ran as he waited for the right time to strike back, Fleur never giving him a chance to rest. When Fleur dived for the second attack Yoh sidestepped and cut her as she passed him. It was a small cut Fleur hardly even seemed to notice it. She continued her attacks, each time getting faster than the last. Fleur dived for a final attack which caught Yoh on the shoulder. The moment her claw made contact with his shoulder he grabbed her ankle and threw her down so that she hit the ground with decent force. Yoh looked down at her with a carefree smile and she understood, he won their little fight. Fleur sighed and stood up, undoing her oversoul in the process. She smiled and told them that training was finished for the day. A minute later she left to go off to who knows where, Cheryl said that she was probably going to go sulk about losing. Nox suddenly noticed how the place had gotten somewhat destroyed and made everyone help clean it up while he left to go do something. Although everyone was able to guess what Fleur was doing pretty easily, Nox was a bit harder to figure out. Yoh had been with Nox for ten years and he still didn't know what he was thinking half the time.

XxX

Nox flew back to the Asakura's house and shapeshifted into a mouse so that he could sneak in without much trouble. Once he was inside he crawled over to the couch and hid in-between the cushions. Mikihisa, Yohmei, the X-Laws and Ren's parents and grandparents all walked inside the room. After getting the formalities out of the way they brought up the subject of Yoh. The Tao's thought that Yoh was to much of a threat to keep around and that if he stayed he might end up interfering with their plans. One of the other groups objected to getting rid of Yoh... but it wasn't the Asakura's. The X-Laws said that they should keep an eye on Yoh for a while, saying that he could prove useful if he decided to join them later. Nox expected as much, the Asakura's would never change. It was a little surprising that the X-Laws decided to object to the plan though. They were really idiotic enough to believe that they would join them? How idiotic, though their naïvety could prove useful in the future. Nox figured that he learned enough and that it was time to go, he hated shapeshifting into a mouse.

xXx

Fleur walked over to the lake and sat down at the edge so that she could put her feet in the water. She was waiting for a friend and he usually wasn't late, something must have come up. She didn't mind watching the stars as she waited though, they were pretty and bright. She smiled as she saw the silhouette of her friend in the water. He was a bit late but she would probably take up a fair bit of his time while talking to him. She met him when she was five and his personality hadn't changed much since then. He sat down next to her and waited for her to speak. Sensing his impatience she figured that it would be best to talk now, he did seem like he was paying attention anyway.

"I made two new friends today. Yoh, Nox and Faust."

"..."

" Yoh is pretty spirited, despite his laziness he's fairly strong, he actually managed to scratch me."

"..."

"He and Nox make a decent teem, although I get the feeling that Nox is a little overprotective."

"Hm?"

"...The two of them will be going for a walk in the forest tomorrow, maybe you could meet them."

"That sounds nice, I think I will."

"If there's anything else I can do to help please let me know, Hao-sama"

XxX

Me: ^.^

Cheryl: - -;

Me: Please review


	11. Scared of Feelings

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_'

'''_thoughts that others can't read_'''

**dangerous tone**

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

XxX

Nox ran into Fleur on his way back to their home, she was still whining about her loss and Nox was beginning to wonder if she had been whining the whole time that she was gone. As they entered their home, Fleur looked furious to find that Yoh sleeping and Faust nowhere to be found. Nox figured that he better wake Yoh up before Fleur threw a tantrum. As Nox walked over to Yoh to wake him up, Fleur went outside to see if she could find Faust. Once she was out of earshot she became lost in thought. She wondered why Nox was so secretive, she didn't see any reason why he should be... Come to think of it, Nox was really, really old. Why was it that the only record of him was from 1,000 years ago? Yoh said that something happened with Nox 500,000 years ago that he didn't like to talk about... '_Maybe_ _I should try asking about his past, asking about his family or past girlfriends probably wouldn't be too intrusive._' Finally coming to a decision, Fleur headed back to the house. She was a little annoyed when she saw that Faust was back. Even though she had spent most of her tine thinking, she still had looked for him.

Yoh was starting to wonder if Fleur was the same hesitant kid that walked up to them and asked to join their team. She was a bit more... arrogant that he thought that she'd be. That wasn't a bad thing, it just surprised him. Nox seemed to be an a foul mood today, maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to go on that walk later. For some reason Nox had been twice as careful about where they went ever since they met Hao. Did Hao think something that offended Nox? It was entirely possible, he didn't know Hao that well but he did know Nox. If Hao was thinking of any kind of prank to play on him, Nox would definitely overreact. Thinking a little more on the subject, none of them really knew much about the other. Maybe it would be a good idea to have everyone talk a little about themselves before he and Nox went on their walk. Having decided on what to do, Yoh walked over to his teammates to see if they liked the idea. As expected, Nox wasn't thrilled. Luckily Faust and Fleur were. It took all three of them to finally convince Nox to participate. They all sat in a circle and decided that they would go around. Fleur pretty much told them her entire past before the game even started so that there would be no need for anyone to ask her a question. Faust would be first, Yoh second, Nox last, and since Cheryl and Elisa weren't playing they could only ask one question which they both decided not to do. When it was someone's turn everyone would get to ask that person one question each. Faust was first and Fleur decided to ask the first question.

"How did you meet Eliza?" She asked, her eyes sparkled in hopes of hearing a love story.

Faust couldn't help but laugh at her expression. "I met her while walking past my fathers hospital one day. After meeting her I wanted to learn to become a great doctor so that I might one day cure her, and cure her I did. We fell in love and were married not long after that. Then we began running our own hospital together."

"How did you know that Eliza was the one for you?" Yoh asked, unsure of what else to say.

"It felt like my entire soul was calling for hers and at that moment I knew, she was the one." Faust said as he smiled at Eliza.

"How did you get her back?" Nox asked calmly.

"Anna reunited me with my love using her new abilities. In return she demanded that I work for her once she builds her future onsen." Faust replied.

Yoh was next and since Fleur asked the question first last time Faust would ask the first question this time. Faust wasn't really sure what to say at first, the only question that he could think of would probably upset Yoh. After thinking about it for a moment he eventually thought of something simple.

"Why did you choose Nox as your guardian spirit?" Faust asked curiously.

"...It's more like he chose me. Nox saw Jane fight off the demons when I was a baby and started following her soon after. When I turned one, Nox asked Jane if he could be my guardian spirit. I seemed to like him, so she said yes." Yoh replied simply.

"Have you ever kissed anyone?" Fleur asked mischievously.

Yoh's face turned a bright red and he seemed to have temporarily forgotten how to speak. After regaining his composure he looked away slightly and muttered a barely audible 'no'. Nox chuckled a little while Fleur didn't even try to hold back her laughter. Once everyone calmed down again Nox remembered that it was his turn to ask a question.

"Have you ever regretted allowing me to become you're guardian spirit?" Nox asked hesitantly.

"No." Yoh replied, showing no hesitation as he did so.

Nox sighed as he realized that it was now his turn. As expected, Fleur was the first to ask a question.

"Did you ever have a girlfriend?" Fleur asked instantly.

"Yes. Not long after our guardian died, she rejected me. She said that I was more like a close friend to her than anything. After that she left me and found another mate soon after. I left her in his hands, knowing that she would be happier with him." Nox answered simply.

"When, or how, did you die?" Yoh asked suddenly.

Nox was thoroughly surprised by the question. He had honestly been expecting Yoh to say something to try to cheer him up, not that it would have worked. Then again, maybe Yoh knew that. Yoh was the type of person who always seemed to know what to say, or at least how to say it."I'd tell you... but you wouldn't believe me." Nox said with a small laugh.

"Do you have any siblings?" Faust asked.

"Yes." Nox replied, thrilled beyond words that the game was finally over.

Yoh got up and walked over to the entrance to the house with Nox following closely behind. Yoh told Faust and Fleur that he and Nox would be going for a walk for a while. Fleur decided that she would do some shopping while they were gone and Faust was going to read while everyone was out. Now that everyone had decided on what to do Yoh and Nox left for the deeper part of the forest.

xXx

Yoh walked a little ahead of Nox as the entered. Nox wasn't sure how but somehow he managed to get separated from Yoh. He walked in circles to try and get a better idea of where he was, he became worried when he caught Hao's scent and quickly began searching for Yoh's. Yoh wasn't that far away and it didn't take that long for him to reach where he was. Yoh was laying down with his back against a tree and seemed to be taking a nap while waiting for him to catch up. Nox was about to walk over to him but he quickly stopped himself. '_Yoh is not a child anymore, he can make his own choices. Judging by the scent Hao will be here soon... I'll leave Yoh alone and if things get too out of hand I'll intervene. I've always been overprotective and I need to start letting him solve his own problems._' Nox thought. He waited a moment to hide his presence before crawling into a nearby bush where he could keep watch on how things went.

Yoh smiled as he listened to the birds chirp above him, today was a really nice day. The sun was out and the air was rather warm. He heard someone walk next to him so he slowly stood up, he opened his eyes and was surprised to see Hao standing in front of him.

"Expecting someone else?" Hao asked, noticing Yoh's confused expression.

"Yea. Nox and I got separated while walking so I was expecting to see him." Yoh replied sheepishly.

"So the overprotective spirit isn't around..." Hao said thoughtfully.

"I'm glad to see you though. I've got a question for you. What is it when you feel your heart race when your around someone and want to be closer to them to the point that you'll never be apart? I overheard a girl from another team saying she felt that way about their team leader." Yoh asked curiously.

"It means that they have romantic feelings toward that person and will probably, if not already, fall in love with them." Hao answered.

"Eh? So she's in love with her team leader? Does that mean that they'll get together soon?" Yoh asked as a slight blush spread across his face.

"Seems so." Hao said simply.

"Ne, Hao. Do you have anyone that you love?" Yoh asked with a carefree smile.

"...Yes, I suppose you could say that I do." Hao replied, seeming to be lost in though.

"Who?" Yoh asked innocently.

Hao smirked and looked over at his confused twin. He ran his fingers through Yoh's hair before pulling him into a rough kiss. To say that Yoh was surprised would be an understatement, he was completely shocked by the sudden action. Yoh was hardly even able to register what was happening. What snapped him back to reality was when Hao slipped his tongue in his mouth and began exploring the caverns within. His first thought was to push Hao away but he was too stunned to move at the moment. Hao pushed him against the tree and only broke the kiss when air was absolutely necessary.

"In case you didn't guess it yet, the one I love..." Hao leaned a little closer and gave Yoh a small kiss. "Is you."

Hao let Yoh go and turned to walk away. "I look forward to the next time we meet, Otouto." He said as he disappeared in a mass of flames.

Yoh just stood there in silence for a moment, Hao's words still echoing in his head. He was a little surprised when he looked up and saw Nox flying in front of him.

"How long have you been there?" Yoh asked upon remembering how to speak.

"In this spot, not long. In the clearing, before Hao even arrived. I knew how he felt since that time back while we were still looking for Pache village. I wanted to let you handle things yourself so I stayed back and kept watch in case Hao tried to go too far. Were you scared?" Nox asked while looking at Yoh with concern.

"Yes, I wasn't expecting anything like that and he's my brother." Yoh replied simply.

"But?" Nox inquired, knowing Yoh well enough to know that there was more to it than that.

"But the scariest part was..." Yoh slowly reached up and touched his lips. "I actually enjoyed it."

XxX

**Me: **Sorry it took so long to update, here's the next chapter.

**Faust:** Please review


	12. What just happened?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_'

'''_thoughts that others can't read_'''

**dangerous tone**

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

There might be some OOC in this chapter

XxX

Nox remained silent as they walked back to the house. Yoh looked confused and he probably needed some time, though he doubted that Yoh would let that show. Yoh was never the type of person who would let his problems bother other people. It was an annoying trait at times, especially when he wanted to know how he really felt, but it was a part of who he was.

He briefly pondered the idea of reading Yoh's mind, but decided that it would be to much of an invasion of privacy. He didn't want to get in another argument with Yoh for the same reason. It was a year ago that the argument happened, but he didn't want to make the same mistake. He wondered if Faust had ever gotten in arguments with Eliza back when she was alive. They seemed to be the perfect couple, but even they had their occasional lovers quarrels, right?

While Nox had started thinking about whether or not Faust an Eliza ever argued, Yoh's mind was was somewhere else. He was thinking about how he should respond to Hao's interest in him. It's not every day that your twin brother tells you that he likes you, in that way. He had always thought that Hao liked that Itako, Anna. Whenever he saw Hao in the village, he was usually flirting with Anna or tormenting one of the X-Laws.

The kiss, was confusing. He knew that he liked it, but wasn't sure why. Had it just been a natural reaction? Or was he actually interested in Hao? Did it have something to do with being his first kiss? Yoh wasn't quite sure yet. He was a little surprised when he looked up to see that they were in front of the house, he didn't expect them to get back so quickly. Before they could go inside, a young girl walked over to them.

"Hello, Yoh." Jeanne said calmly.

"Hi Jeanne. Why are you here?" Yoh asked politely.

"I wanted to ask again if you would join us. We have a plan which could likely destroy Hao, but we need a few other people for it to work." Jeanne explained.

"I'm sorry, but my answer hasn't changed from last time. No." Yoh said calmly.

"I see, that is unfortunate. Try to stay away from the village from now on then. You are a wanderer, one who is neither good nor evil and I'd hate for you to get killed in the crossfire." Jeanne said coolly.

"Are you implying something, Jeanne?" Nox growled.

"No, it was simply a warning." Jeanne said before walking away.

Nox glared at her until she was completely out of sight. Once he was sure that she had left, he looked back at Yoh. Yoh looked somewhat conflicted and confused. Nox didn't need to ask why, he knew that Yoh was thinking about Hao. Even if Yoh wasn't sure how he felt about Hao's feelings, he still cared about him, he was family.

"Nox, could you-" Yoh began.

"Take you to Hao? Sure." Nox finished.

Yoh carefully climbed on Nox's back and held on tightly as Nox took flight. Nox flew back to the part of the forest where they last saw Hao, from there he caught his scent and started tracking it. The scent was fairly weak, which meant that he probably teleported. It took a little longer than he expected, but eventually he spotted Hao over by the lake. He did a quick dive and almost landed in the lake by accident. They probably would have, if Hao hadn't made that spirit of fire catch them.

"Nice to see you again so soon, Otouto." Hao said with a smile.

"Hi Hao." Yoh said as he tried to get to his feet.

"What brings you to find me so soon?" Hao asked.

"Well, I just talked with Jeanne and she said that there was this plan which would likely kill you and I was worried." Yoh said quickly.

"No need to be. They're a thousand years to early to try and kill me, they'll die before they can even get close." Hao said calmly.

"You're going to kill them?" Yoh asked in disbelief.

"Of course. They're getting in my way." Hao replied simply.

"But that's no reason to kill someone!" Yoh snapped.

"This is not going to end well..." Nox whispered.

"They are weak and annoying. That's reason enough." Hao said calmly.

"No, It's not! You can't just kill someone because they're weaker than you." Yoh exclaimed.

"I can and will. I've done it before and I have no intentions of stopping now." Hao replied coolly.

Yoh glared at Hao. "You're cruel... and I hate it!"

Nox was shocked, he had never heard Yoh say he hated something before. In fact, he had never seen Yoh that upset, ever. Yoh's mind was a mental mess, but before anyone could say anything else, Yoh hopped on Nox's back. Nox took the hint and quickly flew away. Nox headed back towards their home, but stopped shortly before they reached it. He could feel warm tears begin to soak his fur. He looked around and then headed towards a cave, placed in the wall of a high cliff.

Once he and Yoh were inside, he looked back at the the view from the entrance. You could see everything from within the cave. It was high enough that others couldn't see you easily, but you could see everything and everyone within a three mile radius. He looked back at Yoh and sighed, it was obvious that he needed some time alone. He unfurled his wings once again and jumped back out off the cave. He had a feeling that they would be staying there for a while, and if that was so, then he should probably go tell Faust.

As he flew back to the home, he saw Fleur pack up her things and leave. Faust and Eliza were standing there looking completely shocked as she walked away. When Nox landed, he received the news that Fleur was a follower of Hao and she had just decided to quit the tournament. '_More problems._' Nox thought as he realized they were now unable to compete in the tournament.

"Faust, a lot have things seemed to have happened in the last few hours. I think it would be a good idea to figure out what's going on and what's going to happen now."

XxX

Me: I'm sorry for taking so long to update.

Nox: Please review.


	13. Descisions

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_'

'''_thoughts that others can't read_'''

**dangerous tone**

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

XxX

"So that's what happened." Faust said thoughtfully.

"Yea. Judging by all that's happened recently, I can assume that something big is going to happen soon... And I have a feeling that there will be two choices for those involved. Pick a side, or get lost." Nox said calmly.

"If that's the case, then I'll be choosing the side of the Asakura's. Anna called my dear Eliza back to me and I am indebted to her for that." Faust said

"I understand. I'm going to ask Yoh what he want after we're done here. I have a feeling that we'll be leaving though." Nox replied simply.

"Alright. I hope to see you two again someday." Faust said as he walked away.

Once Faust was out of sight, Nox flew back to the cave. He almost crashed into Yoh as he flew through the entrance and Yoh had to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit by one of his wings. Because of that, Nox ended up getting his head stuck inside a small hole in the wall. Yoh grabbed all three of Nox's tails and started pulling as hard as he could to get him out. Eventually, after much more pulling, they were finally able to get his head free.

"So, where did you go?" Yoh asked, looking much calmer now.

"I went to talk with Faust. Oh, by the way, Fleur was one of Hao's followers and she quit the team, which means that we can't participate anymore." Nox said quickly.

"I'm sorry for Faust. We were just participating because of a whim, he had things that he wanted to do." Yoh said sadly.

"That brings me to the conversation that I had with Faust. Something big is going to happen soon between the Asakura's, X-Laws, and Hao's group. I have a feeling that those involved will have to either pick a side or get lost. Faust said that he's joining the side of the Asakura's. What do you want to do?" Nox asked calmly.

"I don't see a reason to stay in the tournament any longer. We can't participate and there's nothing really keeping us here. Let's go." Yoh said as he jumped on Nox's back.

Nox jumped out of the cave entrance and spread his wings. He caught the nearest wind current and glided high over the village. Yoh closed his eyes and enjoyed the breeze, it had been a while since he had been able to just relax on the flight. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep and soon he was in his own little world of dreams. Nox cursed silently as the realized Yoh had fallen asleep, now it would be twice as hard to fly. He couldn't exactly let him fall off.

XxX

Jeanne slowly took a seat, trying to suppress a look of disgust at what she had just been offered to eat. Instead, she gave a friendly smile to the person she was going to talk too. Mikisisa and the Asakura family wanted Hao gone just as much as them. She could only imagine what it must have been like, trying to get rid of Hao for the past thousand years. Sure, they managed to kill him, but the fact that he was here in this life meant that they hadn't fully gotten rid of him and she intended to fix that.

"You said that you have a plan to get rid of Hao. What are you thinking?" Mikihisa asked as he handed her a cup of tea.

Jeanne glanced at the murky surface of the water and decided to come up with some excuse later for not being able to drink it.

"My plan is simple, but I believe that it just might work. I have an attack which, if it manages to kill Hao, will completely eradicate his spirit. The only problem with it, is that he already needs to be weak in order for the attack to be fatal. None of us are strong enough to fight him and weaken him enough for this to happen, so we'll let his followers do that for us." Jeanne replied.

"And how do you intend to get them to betray him? All of his followers are extremely loyal."

"Create a rift. Everyone has something that they don't want. Make them believe that Hao will make or has made that _something_ happen. A few rumors will easily do the trick. We will just need your help when the time to fight him arrives." Jeanne explained.

"We also want him gone, so we will be glad to help you."

xXx (Yoh's dream)

"_Jane! Nox! Jane! Where are you?" Yoh cried._

_Yoh held back a tear as he looked at the trees surrounding him. Nox had warned him that the forest was like a labyrinth, but he never understood what that meant. Everything looked the same, the bushes, the trees, even the animals looked the same. The only thing that looked different was the big red Oni coming closer to him. Yoh froze as he noticed the demon. He had seen an Oni before, but Nox or Jane had always been with him at the time. This one looked a little different though, this one looked mad._

_Yoh let out a yelp of surprise when the Oni suddenly charged at him. He managed to jump out of the way before it hit him, but the way that it destroyed the tree behind him told him that he did NOT want to be caught by it. The Oni growled and charged at him once more. This time, it's claw made contact with his shoulder, sending him flying back and into a nearby bush. His arm and shoulder were bleeding and the Oni still looked intent on tearing him apart._

_Yoh desperately tried move out of the way before it charged again, only to find that his leg had gotten stuck in one of the branches. The Oni roared and charged once more, claws outreached as it lunged for his neck. As it came within a foot of him, a large fire suddenly appeared on it and began to eat away at it. In no time at all, the Oni was completely reduced to ash. Yoh quickly hid inside the bush behind him as someone came out from behind the trees. It was a boy about his age and it shocked him to see that they looked almost exactly alike. The boy glared at the ashes as the wind blew them away. _

"_Why do you despise Oni so much?" A tall man from behind the boy asked._

"_They took my little brother." The boy replied coolly._

_After the boy said that, he quickly turned to leave. Yoh was a little surprised the man didn't seem to notice, but from where Yoh was hiding, it was hard to miss, the boy was crying._

XxX

Yoh's eyes flashed open and he almost fell off of Nox when he tried to sit up. It took him a moment to remember that they were still flying. The memory had surprised him, it was from when he was five. He remembered Nox and Jane's reactions when they saw the cut that the Oni had given him. He had always wondered who that boy was and why he had acted so cold when he had seemed so sad.

"Nox, how far away are we?" Yoh asked suddenly.

"We just exited the state. Why?" Nox replied.

"Let's go back. We may not have much to do with the tournament anymore, but I want to see something. You said that something big is going to happen, right? Well, I want to know how it ends." Yoh said.

Nox paused for a moment. "...You're worried about him, aren't you?"

"Yea, I guess you could say that I am." Yoh said with a carefree smile.

Nox smiled as well as he did a quick turnaround. He didn't know about the dream that Yoh had just had and he didn't care about his reasoning for changing his mind. Yoh was happy when he answered and that was all that mattered to him. Yoh held on tightly to his fur as he made an unexpected dive to avoid a murder of crows flying close by. The birds surprised him a bit, but he had no intention of letting that slow him down. Whether he showed it or not, he was also curious to see how the fight would end.

XxX

Me: Thanks for reading.

Nox: Please review.


	14. Just a Scratch

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_'

'''_thoughts that others can't read_'''

**dangerous tone**

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

-Phone-

XxX

Hao scowled as he read the thoughts of his followers, all of their thoughts were the same. They thought he was dangerous. They thought he was using them. They thought that it would be better if he wasn't around. Opacho was the only one who thought differently. She thought that Jeanne had poisoned everyone's minds. She was worried that everyone would try to do something bad.

He smiled as he read her thoughts, but the scowl returned when he remembered the thoughts of everyone else. He got up and started walking towards the forest. Opacho was following close behind. He figured that everyone would probably try something when he came back, in fact, he would be surprised if they didn't. He walked over to Yoh's old home of thorns. He was well aware that everyone had left, that made it a good place for what he had in mind.

"Opacho, you've noticed that everyone has been acting a bit weird, right?" Hao asked calmly.

"Opacho noticed." Opacho replied.

"I have a feeling that something is going to happen. I want you to wait in there while it does. Don't come out until the I come back or the danger is gone." Hao said calmly.

"Ok. Opacho will see Hao-sama then." Opacho said with a smile as she entered the home.

Hao sighed as he walked back to camp. The thought of loosing to his followers was incomprehensible to him, but he felt a little bad that it had to end like this. They really should have just ignored Jeanne, it would've ended better for them all if they had. Out of all of his followers, Mari was the one who surprised him the most. He knew that she had feelings for him and he wondered what the X-laws could have possibly said to change that. As he walked back into camp, he was greeted by everyone's oversouls.

"Isn't this a wonderful surprise?" Hao asked sarcastically as the Spirit of Fire stopped an attack from Blocken's oversoul.

His followers said nothing as they continued their attack. Team Hanagumi worked on trying to restrain him while Peyote and Turbine attempted to distract him. Hang Zang-Ching and Blocken renewed their attack while they thought he was off guard. It was a pathetic attempt. The Spirit of Fire created a heatwave which completely incinerated everyone accept Hanagumi, who had managed to dodge the attack in time. He prepared to attack again, but dodged instead when he was attacked by Mikihisa's spirits.

"Why am I not surprised?" Hao said irritably as he glared at the Asakura's.

Hanagumi ran off and the Asakura's attacked where they left off. Yohmei's leaf spirits Hao's eyes narrowed as a thought entered his head. '_Why am I having so much trouble with them?_' Normally, he should have been able to burn them all in an instant. The Spirit of Fire seemed slowed and the Asakura's attacks were quick and accurate. The attacks rarely made contact, but it was strange that they were able to hit at all. Slowly, the small hits began to pile up and he was starting to feel the weight of their combined attacks.

'_They're blocking off their thoughts..._' Hao thought as the Spirit of Fire consumed Mikihisa's raccoon spirit. A sudden rush of furryoku made him understand why his movements were slowed. '_Those damn X-Laws put a binding spell on me. They never expected my followers or the Asakura's to defeat me, it was all just a distraction. Tch. I cant believe it actually worked._' Hao thought while summoning a large fireball and hurdling it at the ground. Mikihisa dodged it, but Yohmei wasn't so lucky.

The X-Laws came out from behind the trees to aid Mikihisa in his attack, but Jeanne was still nowhere to be seen. Hao was pulled out of his thoughts when Marco sent his spirit to attack. He avoided the hit, but just barely. All of the previous attacks that he had taken were beginning to pile up and he could feel their effect. The fight had to end soon, he was running out of furryoku. He killed Marco and most of the X-Laws with his next wave of flames. Now, all who remained were Mikihisa and Lyserg. Anna, Faust, and Jeanne entered the clearing as he burned Lyserg's angel spirit.

"Hao, this is the end!" Jeanne cried.

Hao only had moment to realize what was happening as a large ax appeared in Shamash's hand, filled with all of Jeanne's and the fallen X-Laws furroku. Anna temporarily bound the Spirit of Fire with her beads as Shamash brought down the ax. A large explosion erupted from the ax the moment it made contact. Everyone was thrown back from the force of the blast, sending each of them flying deeper into the forest.

XxX

"What was that?" Yoh asked as Nox dived to avoid the shock-wave of the explosion.

"I think that was the sign of the end of the fight, looks like Hao lost."

"Is he alive?"

"Barely. But if the Asakura's or the X-laws find him, he wont be."

"Take me to where he is."

"Alright, if that's what you want."

XxX

Nox flew over the forest in search of Hao and his spirit. There were a few skid marks from where others had landed, but the was only one large crater. He dove down towards it after sensing Hao's furryoku nearby. Yoh hopped off his back and ran towards the edge before he had the chance to land.

"You love him, don't you?" Nox asked as Yoh looked over the edge of the crater, Hao was laying unconscious and near death at the center of it.

Yoh turned and looked at Nox with a sad but sincere expression, he waited a moment before answering. "Yes, I do."

"If this is truly what is best for you, then I'll be glad to help you." Nox said with a smile as he began treating the Spirit of Fire's wounds, waiting quietly for Yoh to bring Hao over as well.

Yoh nodded and slid down the sides of the crater, Hao was laying semiconscious in a pool of his own blood at the center. He put Hao's arm around his shoulders and carefully helped him stand while trying his best not to reopen the wound. Hao might be able to be healed at the moment, but he probably wouldn't be if the wound started bleeding again, he lost too much blood already.

Hao slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Yoh in a mix of relief and confusion before glancing around. Yoh merely smiled at Hao as he helped him walk out of the crater and over to a tree near Nox and the Spirit of Fire to sit down. After Hao was sitting with his back against the tree Yoh turned towards the pool of blood and rubble inside the crater that Hao had created when he fell. Yoh gathered a few twigs and lit a match, Yoh stared at the small flame for a moment before he cast it down into the crater. Hao's eyes widened in shock at Yoh while barely noticing that Nox had finished treating the Spirit of Fire and had begun treating his wounds.

"Why would you help me? I thought that you hated me." Hao said as Yoh walked over to him.

"I never said I hated you Hao. I don't like that you distanced yourself from others while never trusting those who you already had close to you. I hated that you were cruel and the fact that you would try to destroy humans without giving them a chance to change first, but despite all of that, I never said that I hated you." Yoh said as he gave Hao a chaste kiss before pulling back and letting Nox finish treating his wounds.

After Nox was finished treating the two of them, the Spirit of Fire turned switched to it's smaller form and Yoh helped Hao to his feet. Together, the four of them walked away from the growing fire and the crater surrounding it, where they were going was a mystery to anyone, even them.

XxX

-Even though it has been four months sense the incident, we have yet to recieve any confirmation of Hao's death, so please keep an eye out for anything strange.- Mikihisa said calmly.

Faust sighed, he missed Yoh and Nox, they were good friends. Suddenly, a familiar voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Turned around and found himself staring at a pair of gypsy twins walking happily together with a small African girl, a demon fox spirit with bat-like wings, and a small fire elemental spirit, both of the spirits were following their masters with peaceful expressions on their faces.

-What's wrong Faust, why are you so quiet?- Mikihisa asked with concern.

"It's nothing." Faust said as he returned his attention back to the phone call.

-Ok then, back to the other subject, will you promise that you will tell me or the shaman council if you see either Hao or the Spirit of Fire?- Mikihisa asked in a serious tone.

Faust looked back at the twins one last time before they faded from sight completely. "You have my word." After Faust gave his reply the phone conversation ended and he continued walking back to his clinic while remembering the pleasant image of the five wandering souls.

XxX

Me: Well, that's the end of the story.

Hao: *glares* You made me look weak... *summons fireball*

Me: Eek! *hides behind Yoh*

Yoh: Nii-chan! Don't burn the author!

Hao: The story is over, why can't I?

Yoh: Because I said so. *pouts cutely*

Me: *sweat-drops* '_He doesn't have an actual reason?_'

Hao: Fine. *glares at author.*

Yoh: Yay!

Me: Please review.


End file.
